Human Capital and Social Development International (HuCASDEVI) is a Non-Governmental Organisation based in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, with a focus on eradicating poverty in deprived communities and building the capacity of youth.

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Tuesday, 7 January 2014

The Ayenya Water Crisis and It's Effects On Community Life

Water is said to be life but not all water can be said to be life. Water
can be life when it is clean, safe and hygienic; free from all source of pipe
borne diseases/sicknesses and contamination. The life of a community especially
deprived ones to a large extend depends on the availability of clean, safe and
hygienic water to ensure the requisite development. This is mostly not the
case, as added to their depravity is the unavailability of clean, safe and
hygienic water for sustainable life.

Ayenya No. 1 is not an exception to the above scenario or phenomenon as
they suffer and go through a lot of struggles to have access to water, which is
not clean, safe and hygienic.

Ayenya No. 1 is a village in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, which is
a little over two hours’ drive from Accra; the capital city and 40 minutes’
drive from Dodowa, a municipality in the Great Accra Region. It's predominantly
a farming community with a total population just over 350 out of which more
than 90% are children and youth. There is not direct vehicle or public bus that
goes to the village and as such villagers and visitors have to board bus slated
for Somanya, which is a city in the Eastern Region of Ghana and then alight at
the village. Both bus drivers and conductors (mates as they are referred
to in the local parlance) don't know the location of the town and therefore
passengers on board the bus wishing to alight at the village ought to alert
them when getting close.

The challenge faced by the community with reference to clean, safe and
hygienic water is enormous as the village only source of water is so unhealthy,
unsafe and unhygienic causing diverse forms of sicknesses and diseases. They
rely on a cow muddled and worm infested water and the painful aspect of their
ordeal is children as young as 10 years of age and women have to walk 50
minutes from the community to the 'river' to fetch water carrying gallons and
pans.

Joining them on the Christmas Eve in 2013 during
my second visit to spend my Christmas with them, we made the 50 minutes’ walk
to the 'river' side to fetch water. It was a humbling experience and felt the
pain and stress that the community go through just to have access to water. The
pictures below tell it all..

Journey from the 'river' to the community

The tiring and humbling experience

Through the bushes

Nearing the Community

As a result of the ordeal that these children go through just to fetch
water, they get fed up of going to school due to the tiredness of going to the
river side to fetch water. And as Nelson Mandela said "Education is the
most powerful weapon that can be used to change the world", and if this is
the case and these children or youth who are the future leaders of the
community don't have this weapon then how can they change and affect their
community? Even those who take the burden of going to school after the long
distance walk to fetch water almost every day go to class and sleep. The
development of the community is far from reaching due to the loss of interest
of the youth in education that is as a result of the tiredness and stress of fetching
water.

A visit to the small community clinic built and manned by an Italian NGO
reviewed that more than 15 cases of water borne related diseases are reported
on a daily bases and they struggle to cope with the situation as it is not
equipped to handle them. When community suffers from diseases then definitely
the productivity level of the community will also be low and this is exactly
the situation in Ayenya No. 1. Farmers who are meant to go to their farms to
ensure that farm products are accessible to the community are spending their
days or time in the hospital, so who will man their farms for them to ensure
the requisite farm products are on the market?

When there are no farm products on the market to be used by the community
hunger strikes because the people go hungry. Even the little goods that may be
accessible to the community may not be enough and as a result, malnutrition
sets in. This is in indeed pathetic because members of the community in
addition to not having access to safe, clean and hygienic water struggle for
food due to the ailment of farmers.

This is why HuCASDEVI is raising funds online and through benevolent
organisations and individuals to get borehole water for the community to bring
smiles on the faces of the members of the community. This will also energise
the community making it possible for them to concentrate their energy on other
economic activities that will help in the development of the community or
village.